Cedar Rapids man sentenced to prison for giving felon brother a gun

A Cedar Rapids man will spend over three years in prison for providing a gun to a felon. Nineteen-year-old Demetrius Hardiman admitted he knowingly gave a nine millimeter handgun to his brother, a convicted felon who was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Cedar Rapids Police Officers encountered Hardiman and his brother at 1:15 a-m on May 8th of 2013 and discovered that Hardiman’s brother had the loaded gun. Hardiman told officers that he stole the gun the year before and had his brother carry the gun that night for protection. Hardiman had been breaking into unlocked cars that night and intended to use the gun if confronted by the cars’ owners.